No luck here, I’ve tried the following
- touch ~/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/ib_logfile0 (this created the file)
- removing akonadi config folder: mv ~/.local/share/akonadi ~/.local/share/akonadi_BACKUP
- reinstall akonadi
But nothing worked.
I always end up with this message:
konadictl start ✔
org.kde.pim.akonadictl: Starting Akonadi Server...
org.kde.pim.akonadictl: done.
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Starting up the Akonadi Server...
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: database server stopped unexpectedly ✔
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection!
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: executable: "/usr/bin/mysqld"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/nataniel/.local/share/akonadi/mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/nataniel/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.socket", "--pid-file=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.pid")
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stdout: ""
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stderr: "2022-06-15 13:19:34 0 [Note] /usr/bin/mysqld (server 10.8.3-MariaDB) starting as process 5971 ...\n"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: exit code: 1
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: process error: "Unknown error"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Shutting down AkonadiServer...
org.kde.pim.akonadicontrol: Application '/usr/bin/akonadiserver' exited normally...
akonadictl stop
EDIT: typo
That’s wrong.
touch ~/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/ib_logfile0
yeah sorry this was a “typo”, I copy/pasted this wrong command but I actually ran the right command! I’ll edit my answer, thanks 
Try starting with verbose logs, it may give some clues.
akonadictl start --verbose
Had the same problem, tried several different suggestions, including downgrading to 10.7.4.1. I had started with a clean install, then tried to set up Kmail. (A few days ago everything worked, but I had to reformat my drive.)
Just doing a touch of the ib_logfile0 didn’t help.
What finally worked:
downloaded previous 10.7.4.1 version from here:
archive archlinux org packages (can’t post links not sure why)
deleted entire ~/.local/share/akonadi folder
sudo pacman -U Downloads/mariadb-libs-10.7.4-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst Downloads/mariadb-clients-10.7.4-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst Downloads/mariadb-10.7.4-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
touch ~/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/ib_logfile0
akonadictl start
started Kmail.
Okay so it outputs roughly the same “unknown error”, which doesn’t help a lot ^^
akonadictl start --verbose INT ✘
org.kde.pim.akonadictl: Starting Akonadi Server...
org.kde.pim.akonadictl: done.
Connecting to deprecated signal QDBusConnectionInterface::serviceOwnerChanged(QString,QString,QString)
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Starting up the Akonadi Server...
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Found mysql_install_db: "/usr/bin/mysql_install_db"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Found mysqlcheck: "/usr/bin/mysqlcheck"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Using mysqld: "/usr/bin/mysqld"
~ org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: mysqld reports version 10.8.3 (MariaDB) ✔
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Executing: "/usr/bin/mysqld" "--defaults-file=/home/nataniel/.local/share/akonadi/mysql.conf --datadir=/home/nataniel/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/ --socket=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.socket --pid-file=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.pid"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: database server stopped unexpectedly
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Database process exited unexpectedly during initial connection!
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: executable: "/usr/bin/mysqld"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: arguments: ("--defaults-file=/home/nataniel/.local/share/akonadi/mysql.conf", "--datadir=/home/nataniel/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/", "--socket=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.socket", "--pid-file=/run/user/1000/akonadi/mysql.pid")
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stdout: ""
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stderr: "2022-06-16 13:29:33 0 [Note] /usr/bin/mysqld (server 10.8.3-MariaDB) starting as process 5526 ...\n"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: exit code: 1
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: process error: "Unknown error"
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: terminating connection threads
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: terminating service threads
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: stopping db process
org.kde.pim.akonadiserver: Shutting down AkonadiServer...
org.kde.pim.akonadicontrol: Application '/usr/bin/akonadiserver' exited normally...
Still very frustrating to not have access to my calendars… I’d be glad if someone can help find out what this is about 
I’ve tried downgrading those mariadb packages but pacman tells me it breaks its own dependency…
sudo pacman -U mariadb-libs-10.7.4-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst mariadb-clients-10.7.4-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
[sudo] password for $USER:
loading packages...
warning: downgrading package mariadb-libs (10.8.3-1 => 10.7.4-1)
warning: downgrading package mariadb-clients (10.8.3-1 => 10.7.4-1)
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: installing mariadb-clients (10.7.4-1) breaks dependency 'mariadb-clients=10.8.3' required by mariadb
I had the same issue at first. I found that each of the 3 listed drivers had dependencies. If I tried it 1 by one it didn’t work.
You are missing the miriadb package in your command. Not sure if the order of the listed packages matters, but make sure you have ALL 3 in the command line.
oh indeed I didn’t see that last one
Ok so now it works, but what should I do for future updates? Do I have to blacklist mariadb? If yes, won’t it introduce security vulnerabilities? …
Not marking as a solution yet in case something else comes up
For the record, when i did the update, i did a lot of back-and-forth with MariaDB package versions as i tried to keep the logfile. But that didn’t work, and in the end i simply updated everything and started with a new logfile.
Something you could try is:
- downgrade MariaDB
- check that Akonadi starts
- stop Akonadi
- update MariaDB
- delete/move logfile
- create new logfile
- start Akonadi
- update Akonadi’s database
Yes perfect, it now works with the latest mariadb version ! Thanks @maycne.sonahoz and @mr.moon